Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields 2 (A Review)
Channel 4′s new doc is still bullshit, wrapped around a seed of truth. People suffered and died, but Channel 4 – like Kony2012 to a degree – is too quick to use that suffering to further a simplistic agenda. They completely ignore the history and context of Sri Lanka’s civil war and instead offer up war porn, strategically staged by the LTTE, proposing the decapitation of Sri Lanka’s elected government and military as a solution. It’s bullshit.
Summary
I think the Channel 4 doc is disingenuous – it takes human suffering the LTTE packaged to provoke an international response and basically does what the LTTE wanted, only 3 years later.
While I think many of the abuses happened and the government did lie about them, they happened within a proportional campaign (to end the war) and – due partly to international pressure – the government has acknowledged much of the suffering, notably in the LLRC report.
By wrapping human suffering so tightly around an agenda (prosecuting Sri Lanka’s top military and government leaders, incidentally the LTTE’s agenda, tho prosecute wouldn’t be the word) Channel 4 cheapens and prostitutes the human suffering involved. I think it’s a bad film, but that doesn’t change the fact that the end of the war was plenty bad.
Criticism
- No Sri Lankan sources (either people from or in the country)
- I repeat ALL WHITE PEOPLE. This just looks bad. There isn’t a single non-white ‘expert’
- No direct, credible sources (all UN or US reports)
- Foregone conclusion (Mahinda and Gota should be prosecuted)
- No questioning how so many civilians ended up in a closed area where they didn’t live (the LTTE herding them)
- No discussion of proportionality (ie, ending the war at a civilian cost vs. not ending the war at all)
Opposite Of Criticisms
- People were killed and suffered. You can say it’s the LTTE’s fault and be right, but that still doesn’t make it right.
- The government did lie during and immediately after the war
- The civilians were not as much of a priority as killing the LTTE
- The government’s reconciliation efforts have only slowly proceeded from denial to something vaguely akin to sense. Efforts like Channel 4′s do pressure them, but the effect may be a net negative.
My Running Commentary
It’s a long video, so my commentary is long. I’ve tried to break it up. It’s loosely chronological.
The start of Killing Fields 2 is about Killing Fields 1 and how awesome it was and how many international bodies and governments it influenced. There is no talk about how it influenced or improved Sri Lanka, because it didn’t.
Ignoring How Thousands Of Civilians Got Someplace They Didn’t Live
The major error they make is saying that government forces drove the Tamil Tigers and hundreds of thousands of civilians into an ever-smaller area. That isn’t true. The LTTE herded those people at gunpoint and general threat in front of them, as a human shield. The strategy was to provoke international response based on sympathy and terror to preserve a terrorist group. This is the strategy that Channel 4 has unwittingly become a part of. Even dead, Prabhakaran is playing them.
Without this context, of course the Sri Lankan government looks terrible, firing on innocent civilians. Yet it is vital to remember that the LTTE set this up as a ploy to achieve their strategic objective of continuing the war – a far worse fate. Based on this omission alone, I think the Channel 4 video is deeply compromised.
These are scenes that the LTTE cynically set up for international consumption, and Channel 4 is eating it up.
Making Pointing At Photographs Look More Serious Than It Is
Then there is the magic reliance on forensic pathologists to look at photographs and tell you what they see. In all, there are so far no voices of people from Sri Lanka (even saying this happened to me, which I have heard), brown people are either shown as monolithic bad guys or helpless victims, and it is all about the white man’s burden, ie, ‘the international community failed them’.
Kernels Of Truth
Anyways, these are Channel 4′s indictments.
- Shelling of a UN compound within the no-fire zone
- Denial of food and medicine
- I somehow missed the third one
- The killing of Prabha’s 12 year old son
Again, all of these things happen during war, which is why war is horrible. In the case of shelling, the LTTE promptly moved into any designated zone to mix with civilians and fire from there. That was their strategy since Kilinochchi fell. Food and medicine also had to generally go through the LTTE, who would take if for their cadres and dole out as they pleased. That said, the government did downplay the number of civilians in there, particularly Mahinda.
But that’s not even the issue here. The issue is that these are all situations that the LTTE set up. Thus the choice wasn’t do or not do, it was either do and end the war, or not do and let the terrorist force get away with it and continue to wreck havoc for God knows how many more years, or decades. That was the brutal calculus which the myopic video never addresses – yet it was the decision most vital to the people of this island.
I still think these allegations are serious and bear discussion, within context. They just don’t lead to the clear indictment that Channel 4 presumes.
Still Ignoring The LTTE
At one point Jon Snow simply says it wasn’t a hostage operation, but they never question why people were simply shuffled around a warzone without being allowed out. Because it was the LTTE not allowing them out, and there is evidence of them literally herding people at gunpoint. I’ve spoken to people who were there at the final moments and they couldn’t leave. It ended when they crossed to the government side, which is what the LTTE prevented. If there was international pressure at that point it should have been on the LTTE to let people out, but instead they gerrymandered the emotionomics to turn scrutiny in the opposite direction.
White Man’s Burden
Throughout the video Channel 4 uses austere announcement and words like ‘analyze’ and ‘evidence’ to describe video they got from uncited sources and people sitting around and looking at photographs or giving opinions from abroad. It’s driven by agenda, not actual facts and analysis, and certainly not context. They go for a few cases and emotional impact, but it’s not the reality. It’s just war porn, staged by the LTTE and distributed by Channel 4 with foreign announcers.
They use a lot of cinematic tricks like filming documents and computer screens to cover up for the fact that they talk to no one in or even from Sri Lanka. It’s all second-hand data and third-hand analysis when there are people on the ground who actually can talk – even through a difficult government to do media work through. I know film students who got into the war zone right after, I have been there and anyone can go there and talk to people now. The stories you get are horrifying but not the cut and dry, analyzed from Geneva views you get here.
Channel 4 uses infographics and voice-over to substitute for actual journalism, however hard it is to do. It’s all UN documents, UN reports, US cables, TamilNet-style videos, it’s bullshit around a distant truth. They even setup fake desks with rotating fans and video backgrounds to cover up for the fact that they don’t have direct evidence. Then they have guys cited as experts who literally tell you what is happening in a photograph, which anyone can see. It’s deceptive.
Government Was Bullshitting. True
At the same time, however, the stuff the government was saying during the war was complete bullshit. No civilians were killed (Mahinda) no heavy weapons were used (Keheliya), all shameful bullshit. They were simply losing this foreign media war to the LTTE at the time (I posit because the LTTE successfully assassinated the only coherent Foreign Minister earlier) and they’re barely competing now. The LLRC report does acknowledge this base reality, but the stuff coming out of government mouths at the time was completely offensive bullshit.
The killing of Prabhakaran’s son I think is pretty damn bad, but in the video they have an anonymous source saying that his info led to Prabhakaran’s whereabouts. I dunno. Then they get into the legitimacy of how Prabhakaran was killed, which is a bit like asking about Bin Laden’s assassination by the US. I mean, really?
I think Channel 4 is also wrong to brush over the LLRC report as not being substantive. I thought it would be eyewash and it wasn’t, it actually did correct a lot of the original bullshit. That, however, didn’t fit into the Channel 4 narrative so they largely leave it out.
Story Over History
Throughout it all there’s this underlying agenda that this latter phase of war shouldn’t have been fought at all, that the LTTE should have gotten away with their hostage manuver, and that – in effect – the war should have gone on. I find this bullshit, but it’s also a shame to wrap this agenda in a humanitarian flag. That was the deception the LTTE tried to pull, and it’s what Channel 4 is continuing, I think through decent if arrogant intentions.
The problem with Channel 4 is that they put their agenda before the trial, and ultimately before the facts. They frame a 5 year phase of war as if it was the war, ignoring the history that brought such a brutal impasse to pass. They frame the LTTE’s human shield as if it happened naturally, which it didn’t. Thus they completely ignore the context of 30 years of war and terrorism and the wholesale suffering it caused, making the terrible last phase of the war still proportional. Which is the horrible calculus of a just war. Not whether suffering happens (it does), but whether it achieves a worthy objective – most notably ending war.
Seriously, Channel 4 Sucks
What I found the most rich is that the ads running during the Killing Fields are for ‘The Falklands Most Daring Raid‘, something glowingly documenting UK military adventures in some place thousands of miles away with no strategic interest. I mean, they’re glorifying wars of choice on one hand and then bemoaning the hard choices Sri Lanka had to make to end a war of necessity.
I think it’s honestly contemptible, because the issue raised in the doc are really important. They are just so warped by agenda that it becomes useless if you’re not a true believer on either side. People that hate Sri Lanka will be bolstered and people that hate ‘international forces’ will be equally buoyed. And neither side needs buoyancy, they’re both full of hot air already.
What About The Good Of Sri Lanka?
What of the people in the middle, like the people that died in the war and continue to live here? They are not served by either unscrupulous TV stations or leaders abusing their struggles, and it’s bullshit. In the Channel 4 doc they’re just pictured suffering and moaning, like animals, defended by white dudes abroad who view justice in purely punitive terms. ie, rid of the bad guys, it’s all good. A good doc would actually talk to these people, and it’s not impossible. It just may not confirm what you already think.
Seriously, I’m not discounting the issues here or the bloody tragedy of war. I’ve seen parents covered in their children’s blood and it’s truly horrible. You can say this reason or that reason, but at the end of the day there’s nothing can say that’s better. A lot of stuff the government said made it worse and a lot of what they did was unnecessary. I think we do need to discuss that in non-punitive terms that don’t threaten to decapitate the government and military of Sri Lanka, which is frankly non-negotiable, especially by people that don’t vote or even show up on the street.
So within that context, this documentary is shit. Channel 4 put their predetermined agenda ahead of inconvenient circumstances and facts and it does a disservice to Sri Lanka. They’ve made a lazy doc, using agenda and ‘experts’ to fill in for complexity and actual research. I still think we need to talk about the subject, but this documentary sucks.
Posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2012 in GoSL, International, Politics, Sri Lanka, Video.
Mohsin Hamid, author of How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia, has a nice 
I’m happy to be featured in Echelon magazine’s 40 Under 40 feature, profiling young people who contribute to the economy in some way, mainly in business but also in terms of innovation and thought leadership. It’s an interesting article not just in that I’m in it (mainly for work on indi.ca and 
I won’t add too much commentary, but just read I guess. The youngest Rajapaksa, Rohitha (Chi Chi) has given an amazing interview to the 
In 2009 this strange character appeared on the Sri Lankan Internet scene, getting angry, flaming, trolling whatever. Then he started naming anonymous bloggers, posting comments as people’s kids, nasty stuff, for which I removed him from 
Well said.
Indi,
In the last phase of war, what would constitute proportional?
If we assume that it is later proved that 40,000 civilians died in the conflict in 2008/9, a majority of them due to shelling and firing by the military (as claimed by the UN advisory panel report) and on some days over 300 civilians were killed in order to wipe out the LTTE leadership (at any cost military objective if you will) would you consider that proportional?
Lol, it was the LTTE who used the civilians as a human shield in the first place. So you think the army should have obeyed and kept away?
and you thought the army should kill their way through to get at the 300 or so of the LTTE
If the army didn’t do that, how many more civilians would’ve the LTTE killed since then? I think this answers your question about ‘being proportional’.
Now have count all the families and individual in the North and East with government officers and together with other representative visiting every one. Accordingly total death reported by all people there is just below 10,000/-. You can have the procedure of counting and the exact figures. That include old age death also. So can u realize the real situation and the false spread all over the world saying more than 40,000.
This documentary is clearly aimed at influencing the upcoming UNHRC sessions, specifically tackling the war crimes issues. Basically, it sets out saying that war crimes happened, and here’s how we’re going to prove it. They sought to do this by showing what they consider persuasive evidence to demonstrate:
-the deliberate shelling of the NFZs, deliberately or knowingly killing civilians and importantly the knowledge of the top command structure that this was happening
- the deliberate under-counting of civilians trapped in the NFZs by a factor of over 50, leading to seriously low supplies of food and medicine
- executions of detained prisoners, including a 12-year old boy
You can make your own mind up about whether the evidence they presented is credible. Despite Indi’s criticisms, the forensic expert seemed reasonable, given what he was asked to comment on, though his conclusions would have benefitted from a second opinion. That said, C4 isn’t as professional as it thinks it is, and one should question why a news organisation feels it’s an appropriate conduit for this sort of investigation. I agree with Indi on much of what he says, there’s certainly no context. It’s a bit like convicting a woman for murdering her sleeping husband without bothering to find out that she was the victim of domestic violence for years.
The problem I have with (justified) criticisms of this report is that, well, lots of people I know simply didn’t accept that these sort of things could have happened, let alone did happen and even after that, until they saw some of the consequences for the people caught up in it, they didn’t seem to care all that much. ‘War porn’ is therefore not entirely fair. If it takes seeing a man holding his dead little boy in his arms to elicit someone to take notice of his plight, then that might be justified. The triumphalism at the end of the war came as a result of these civilians’ sacrifices, and was predicated by bare faced lies, not just during, but also after the war regarding casualties and so forth, which was pretty sickening. It should have been, and still is, a time for reflection and compassion.
Where I think Indi may have missed the boat is in the latter part of the report. The evidence about the doctors is damning if true, and deserves comment. Further, is it really credible that a foreign news agency could come to Sri Lanka, travel where they want to, film whom they like and get people to talk openly and on the record to them or local journalists about their experiences and what they want to happen? Given the climate of self-censorship and fear prevalent today, I would be surprised if that were possible.
C4 probably thinks that it’s doing what’s right and proper. Lofty aims. But I’m not sure how much they really thought about whether serving up such evidence in this way, even if true, will help the people of Sri Lanka now.
“It’s a bit like convicting a woman for murdering her sleeping husband without bothering to find out that she was the victim of domestic violence for years”
I think the analogy here does not match up. I don’t see many people being unduly worried about LTTE being killed (even when it is said they were killed after surrendering). The problem is the callousness shown for civilians which clearly was much more than collateral.
What do you define as not “much more than collateral”? I’d like to hear what model you’re comparing this against. What is the accepted collateral damage in a war?
One thing: the military said they didn’t use heavy artillery in the final stages. The UN report and US analysis suggests otherwise. I don’t know the truth of it. If they didn’t use heavy artillery then it looks more proportionate.
However, if they did use heavy artillery, why say that they didn’t? Is it because that would suggest callous disregard for civilians and disproportionality? If not, then why bother to lie about it?
The LTTE had heavy arty, rockets & mortars. I would think it’s silly to assume the GOSL to expect not to use heavy weapons in this situation. the government lying about using heavy artillery doesn’t automatically make it disproportionate,
Carasek, why are you changing the subject to what the GoSL did or did not say? I asked you what you considered to be proportional, and what model of proportionality you were using to judge this. What has the GoSL’s claim to have stopped using heavy artillery got to do with that?
We don’t know why the GoSL said what it said, and to assume they were feeling guilty is a subjective assumption. It is possible that the SL military indeed stopped using heavy artillery (they certainly stopped fixed wing airstrikes) but then resumed its use because they realized they couldn’t advance without it. Don’t governments routinely change their announced plans?
Yes, I meant to add something to that… like she murdered him by burning down the house, killing the kids as well. But then thought better of it. And then wrote it here anyway.
I think calculations of proportionate civilian casualties are horrific in their nature and difficult to measure. The numbers are not mere statistics, and it’s not just the deaths that matter. The statement, “Thus they completely ignore the context of 30 years of war and terrorism and the wholesale suffering it caused, making the terrible last phase of the war still proportional” is rather misguided in this regard IMO.
“the deliberate shelling of the NFZs”
This is not a war crime.
“the deliberate under-counting of civilians trapped in the NFZs by a factor of over 50, leading to seriously low supplies of food and medicine”
I was at the Marga Institute seminar in which a former Vavuniya GS explained how it was simply a mistake, and not a deliberate undercount. A gentleman who was heading the care of the IDPs (a Tamil, I forget his name, sorry) showed statistical evidence of how every effort was taken by the Ministry of Health and other departments to ensure adequate food and medicine was supplied, and the shortages were not necessarily due just to the numbers.
I remember speaking to one of the vanni doctors who said that anesthetic medicines were denied, for fear that LTTE cadres will be treated. So there seems to be some denial of necessary medications.
I remember Government spokespersons repeatedly gave a figure of 120,000 as the number of people in the Vanni. Even after 120,000 people had arrived in the concentration camps they were making those assertions. Hence how can we trust the GoSL?
The Mullaithivu GA during the last stages of the war said: ‘there are around 375,000 people in the Vanni’. Surely when the GoSL’s own agents were saying this why did the GoSL spokespersons say 120,000?
Due you think the Vavuniya GS spoke the truth or was he under some fear, since he is a government employee to not say anything against the GoSL? Do you really think he is free to utter the truth? With the kind of governance structure we have and the 18th amendment how can government officials say things contradictory of MR?
“I remember speaking to one of the vanni doctors who said that anesthetic medicines were denied, for fear that LTTE cadres will be treated. So there seems to be some denial of necessary medications.”
This too is incorrect. I remember there were stories about doctors performing amputations without anasthesia, something that was scoffed at by the actual doctors. At the Marga seminar, a gentleman who was actually in charge of IDPs said that nothing was denied (though there were shortages) and there was no distinction made between injured civilians and combatants.
The Vavuniya GS was a retired man and gave examples of how in previous years the Tigers inflated population numbers to get additional GoSL supplies for their troops, thereby making previous population counts suspect. If you are going to discredit every witness who won’t agree with you by either labeling them GoSL lackeys or acting out of fear, any discussion is a pointless exercise. The point is there is no evidence of medical supplies, food, or other necessities being deliberately withheld. At the Marga seminar it was made clear that all possible efforts were made to look after the IDPs, though there were many shortfalls due to logistical problems and simple incompetence.
This is hard for us to analyze. We were not there in the midst of the confusion. I am sure the Army commanders were trying to conclude the war and the actual costs were not so apparent. Should they have scaled down the attack to reduce civilian casualties? may be. But I agree that documentary is a pathetic piece of journalism.
There’s an answer in the video. They needed to get ppl of their back to just finish the war. They also really weren’t thinking of the international angle, or getting good advice. Or taking it.
And I don’t know if they used heavy. I deffa saw shrapnel wounds in Vavuniya and Padaviya, and ppl sent to Colombo
Even a grenade will cause shrapnel wounds.
Regarding agencies doing reports, Al Jazeera has done decent ones, as a random Australian guy I remember. And CoDoc, which was at that time three kids from film school who got access right after the war
Good stuff – can you remember links?
Indi, this is a good review. I do wish you hadn’t used the word ‘bullshit’ so many times though. I think a more dispassionate tone would have brought more authority to your arguments, particularly if it’s read by non-Sri Lankans. And this brings up a larger point.
There are very specific charges made in this film, the last one, and the Darusman report. The government would do well by responding coherently to these charges. If there are factual errors, missing context, or just plain lies, then keep calm and call them out. If some of the allegations are true, and cannot be justified in any credible manner, then outline how the state is going to make amends.
I have really seen only David Blacker, Rajiva Wijesinha and maybe the MARGA Institute attempting to do anything of this nature. They are to be commended for it, but all these parties have limited influence in the larger scheme of things. The government seems confident that shrill histrionics, character attacks, nit-picking and crude obfuscation will see them through. They seem unmindful of the malign effects on the reputation of our country and the emotions of our people.
I don’t think it is in MR’s self interest to have a coherent response to this. As long as they have C4 and the Brits, Americans, HRW, etc screaming about this they have a bogeyman and MR can play the ‘patriot.’ Just goes to show that those behind these noble aim of ‘change’ have zero understanding of the ground situation.
That’s very true. MR thrives on situation like this. Not only that the general perception among the people is that the opposition wit ranil at the helm is not capable of tackling such threats.
I second that: too much “bullshit.” But otherwise great review.
Ok well here is Rajiva Wijesinha’s response:
http://transcurrents.com/news-views/archives/9574
Here’s my summary of what Rajiva says:
1. On the shelling of the compound:
UN personnel at the time issued statements that seem to contradict the current claims about this incident. Ch4′s star witness, a Peter Mackay, seems to be a man of mystery whose presence at the scene is suspicious.
2. Denial of food and medicine:
Regardless of government estimates of the hostage population, food and medicine were supplied in accordance to the UN’s figures.
3. The third one (which indi missed, but I think covers the execution of prisoners):
Same old footage of dubious provenance, complete with possible editing tricks, presented as evidence
4. Execution of Prabhakaran’s son:
Needs further investigation, but absurd to hold the President culpable as he had no real-time insight into what was going down (unlike President Obama’s video link to the Bin Laden operation)
Hmm.. even the UNSG report doesn’t mention Peter McKay. They use some other guy, who was a South African
The South African was du Toit, I think; head of UN security in Colombo.
I thought the UN rapporteur has authenticated Ch4′s video, why keep questioning?
The British media regulator OFCOM has also said that reporting was according to their standards. So what is dubious about Ch4?
Myil, to my understanding, the UN rapporteur has said that whatever is happening in the video (e.g. the executions) appears to be genuine and not staged. He has not made a determination as to who is executing who, or when and where these things actually happened, and I very much doubt he can come to any definitive conclusion on that, even though Ch4 has.
There is also this matter of Ch4′s editing – that on occasion they have spliced together various unconnected pieces of footage and then presented them as a single instance, thereby misleading the audience. David Blacker has written about how they went about doing this, but I can’t locate a link at the moment.
As for OFCOM, as far as I know, their remit is to ensure that broadcasters do not violate the interests and sensibilities of the British audience, either by engaging in unfair competition or airing offensive material. They are not there to ascertain the veracity of any given piece of reportage, and I doubt they have the resources to do so.
Rajivmw,
But surely you are not trying to say no civilians died, are you? It is important to look at the history of the conflict and the injustices and riots against Thamils since the 1950s. If you look at it in that context it is not surprising the sinhala forces did what they did.
Also look at other indicators to GoSL dishonesty:
President said he would go beyond 13 amendment. He hasn’t even implemented the 13th amendment, which is part of the constitution.
What happened to previous presidential commissions? APRC?
As for OFCOM they do have resources to ascertain the veracity or genuineness of the footage. I’m sure OFCOM would not allow a false footage to be shown as authentic.
Myil,
No I am certainly not saying that no civilians died. In fact, if you follow the thread, you’ll see that I am personally making no claims one way or the other.
I am merely highlighting what Dr. Rajiva Wijesinha has written in response to the Ch4 documentary. I am not presenting his arguments as incontrovertible, but I do respect him for at least responding directly to each of the charges made in the film rather than deploying the usual evasion tactics. I do recommend you read his comment and draw your own conclusions, I have provided the link above.
I also want to make it clear that I am NOT Dr. Wijesinha, if there is any confusion about it!
As for OFCOM, I think you’re wrong. I highly doubt that they vet everything that goes out on Britain’s airwaves to determine their accuracy. If you think about it, that would pose a fairly serious threat to freedom of expression. I would be greatly surprised and humbled if you were to offer me proof that they do.
With regards to the dishonesty of the GoSL, let me say that I am in total agreement with you. I don’t think they have a monopoly on dishonesty as far as the current controversy goes, but I would say that their conduct impacts more lives more directly than any of the other actors, and so it is right and proper to focus on it.
LTTE GENOCIDE in Sri Lankan Muslims…
What you think about this UN and HUMAN RIGHT WATCH ? what action will u tack for this ??
who is crying for fucking LTTE this is over to u …
wat u say abt this fuckers
http://www.jaffnamuslim.com/2012/03/blog-post_3678.html
Channel 4 has failed to classify Prabakaran as a terrorist…
I wish that CH4 was there to make a similar documentary about “Bishana of 89/90”.
[...] more comprehensive review by indi.ca can be found here: Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields 2 (A Review) Well worth a read. Share this:TwitterFacebookDiggStumbleUponEmailPrintLike this:LikeBe the first to [...]
All the C4 videos are just failures. They failed to prove a single point. All the so called “Evidence” are just like beating the bush. Try to have a look on how Gadafi, Sadam Husain is being killed and all the other day lights killings of ruthless US forces.
One of the many ridiculous comments that hit me was the final comment on the military complex that currently exists in a post war North – That people in the North and East are living their lives under strict government control under the watchful eye of the Sri Lankan military. If everything was so controlled, how on earth did the government lose an election in the North?
A different perspective on the UN issue
http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/4706
Indi, you’ve made it to the Telegraph! (well… the comments section, anyway)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9144300/Sri-Lankas-Killing-Fields-War-Crimes-Unpunished-Channel-4-review.html
You lot call it a bullshit…because you saw what you guys did in the North. You don’t like to the documentary because you don’t want to accept that you lot are racist pigs who are used to the government censord media.
Ask your self (Mr.Blacker) who many did you rape when you were in the military or did you get raped because you are half Tamil.
I loved it, I like to commend C4 on this!
Praba is not a terrorist….Srilankan Politics has always been racist and kick started the terrorism.
Grow up…you racist donkeys!
Lol, some quality commentary here. I think this quite a good example of the sort of logic we’re seeing amongst SL’s detractors — this “Tamil” suggests that because I was a soldier I must be a rapist, but because I am also half Tamil, I must have been raped. Perhaps he means half-raped. The fact that he is accusing the same person of being both victim and perpetrator escapes him, as well as the irony of insulting me on an online medium which has no government censorship.
One almost wishes the GoSL had a better quality of enemy :D
Pssst… don’t feed the troll!
Tamil,
I have looked at the actions of the LTTE over the last few years see:
http://jestforkicks.blogspot.com/2011/07/politics-in-blogosphere.html
What is bad is bad.
What a lovely example of Tamil tolerance, respect and decency.
Try to explain why praba and ltte sent out suicide bombers , where was the warning to all the innocent by standers ? this my firend is karma and just like all those ppl were collateral ….all those in the no fire zone were collateral of war
Umm.. just wanted to say, excellent analysis of the 2nd mockumentary. If C4 had stayed with the facts and also concentrated on the more post-war environment (continuing abductions etc), they would’ve had an absolutely watertight documentary.
A hack who used to work for C4 confirmed that the footage used in the first SLKF documentary was hawked around the place and only C4 took up the challenge, because it seems that ever since C4 got kicked out of Sri Lanka, they’ve been behaving like a bunny boiler ex-girlfriend. It’s obviously deeply personal :) :)
He said “The documentary is not a ‘coup’ – other broadcasters had the footage and did nor air it.“
In one scene, amid the supposed carnage that is caused by the army one soldier is carrying a wounded civilian desperately trying to save his or her.
[...] have commented that I use the word bullshit too much, especially on the Channel 4 post here. Indeed, I find unright speech the hardest thing to take sil from. That said, I really can’t [...]
As I remember ch4 ignored the fact that ltte shot Civilians fleeing the war zone.
Indi Samarajiva — The new Sittingnut.
if Sri Lanka has nothing to hide, they’d allow an independent/impartial investigation…
and
if Sri Lanka HAD nothing to hide(in 2009 & earlier), they would have allow an independent media into SL/north-east
sad to see the Sinhalese people still in denial mode.
You can keep denying all you want, but the truth will keep coming out.
Yes, there is more to come… wait and see.
The Sinhalese don’t seem realize the fact that these Rapists and Murderers (Sri Lankan Army/Police) who haven’t been identified/arrested, will one day do this to YOU!!! Yes, Sinhalese Army Rapists and Murderers will rape/murder Sinhalese women sooner/later. So it’s in your interests to have these criminals arrested.
* The Sinhalese people have always dismissed most reports of Tamils being killed/raped/tortured/kidnapped as LTTE propaganda. But they were not. Most of the Tamils have had atleast one relative/friend who was a victim of these crimes.
It’s time for you to stop denying, and start accepting.
(Like Chandrika B.K., etc)
& don’t forget your own, Lasantha W, Dr. Brian S., etc
There is some good info on Sri Lanka on this website > > TamilNation.co
I’m assuming your website doesn’t include any information on the JVP insurrection?
Yeah, the Sinhalese people were tortured and killed pretty throughly already, I think they get it
A community that let itself get raped and destroyed from within, and continued to cheer it on by supporting the LTTE is hardly a community that should be preaching to others.